


Diner in the tiny coastal town of Valla

by citrusfrogs, thefalconofthefall



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Azura's POV, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, My Unit | Kamui | Corrin Twins, POV Second Person, POV shifts for backflashes, twin aus are fucking great
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-03-25 20:30:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13842450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/citrusfrogs/pseuds/citrusfrogs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefalconofthefall/pseuds/thefalconofthefall
Summary: “Only a few days ago, an employee at Gunter’s Diner has been found dead. The burnt body has been identified as a young woman in her early 20s–“Your name is Azura, and you're a 24 year old law student who has some hunches for a homicide incident that occurred at the local diner. With interrogation and friendly faces to help piece together the mystery the Valla Police force hasn't been able to solve, you're on the case to bring semi-justice to the victim, as well as her family and friends, who mourn for a girl who died of questionable circumstances.Yet somehow, old friends and lovers are a part of it all. Definitely not how you planned on spending your break.[HIATUS: Author is unhappy with the story so far, and doesn't wish to continue for now]





	1. We got trouble

**Author's Note:**

> And I'm trying not to notice  
> That she's hitching up her skirt  
> And while she's straightening her stockings  
> Her hair is getting wet
> 
> I finish up my coffee, its time to catch the train.

“Only a few days ago, an employee at Gunter’s Diner has been found dead. The burnt body has been identified as a young woman in her early 20s–“ 

It's been roughly 4 days since the incident, and you now had to get your usual free breakfast at a small drive in Starbucks. You don’t like it much. You couldn’t even sit down and enjoy a view, for the only view there was a brick wall and seagulls preparing to snatch your croissant and knock over your pricey watery tea. The sad life of a law student. 

You know that the employees are all being questioned, even now. Actually, you just saw Jakob leave the police station an hour ago on your usual morning jog. He looked a lot more peeved than usual. 

That was an hour ago though, 9 am, now he’s at the crime scene with a man that has the silliest haircut you have ever seen (at least he managed to pull it off). You have enough dignity not to listen onto the conversation. They seem to be mourning, and you can’t blame them. Most of the the employees at Gunter’s were close, very close. Not even you could properly describe the familiarity of the co-workers.

You however, are very keen on solving this case as well. You are on break, and awaiting next semester, and what’s better than butting into a private investigation?

Next best thing to do, talk to the snarky waiter. 

Jakob, whose last name you never remembered, or even know if he’s ever been referred to as his surname. You know he came from a rich family, who abandoned him. You don’t know much else, but its a fair trade off with you vague childhood story. You can safely assume he’s in his mid 20s, he’s thinking about working onto a masters degree for business. Jakob supposedly has worked at Gunters since he was able to legally work. He always talks about the manager like he knows him personally, even calls him an ‘old fart’. 

That's all you know, it’s enough for you both to acknowledge each other though. 

“Azura, hopefully not here to find Felicia and question her until she cries again?”

You smile, there's that asshole of a man she knows. “No, I’ve learned my mistakes, I’ll be kinder to her about the subject next time. Didn’t know she’d end up getting that worked up.” 

“Who’s this Jakob?” The man with the silly haircut has his hand on Jakob shoulders, showing that they’re close️. Jakob isn’t one for touching, and you have a tiny scar you’ve nicknamed as ‘touchy touchy’ to prove it. You’re more willing to get to know this man now. His voice is... a lot softer than you were expecting? He kind of reminds you of someone you knew… a long time ago. 

“This is Azura, she’s a regular at Gunters and rarely pays.” Dang, he’s got you there. It’s not like the manager has ever complained about it though. You always just took the messed up coffee cakes and some burnt toast anyways. “She’s an, acquaintance I suppose”

“You wound me deeply Jakob, have you forgotten about our bonding moment. We talked about our terribly tragic past is that not best friend material already?” 

You both stare at each other for a moment, you know he's laughing, though the side of his mouth is twitching. 

“I’m here to ask you some questions this time since Felicia didn’t spare much.” You take out your mini journal you hide in your shirt’s big pockets, and a gel pen you found on the floors of your dorm. “I want to know more about the victim and what intentions the killer could have wanted?” 

“You’re going to have to be more specific Azura, there's a lot of things I know about the victim. The killer’s intenion? I don’t have a clue, she didn’t do anything wrong.” His voice wavers, oh, he’s been clutching the other man’s hand. That poor lad, his hand is already turning purple. 

“Jakob, I don't want to have to amputate my fingers, please?” The hand is immediately let go, and the waiter starts to profusely apologize. 

“Alright then, one at a time. Do you know the victim in anyway?”

“She was my co-worker, and an old friend of mine.”

“Her name?”

Jakob and the mystery man you still don’t know the name of start to discuss it in hushed whispers. 

“Flora, she never told us her last name. Gunther probably knows it though.”

Flora, you know her. She’s the fill in chef when Jakob isn’t cooking, she’s also a waitress when Jakob isn’t a waiter. The two of them have some kind of job tango. You actually don’t know her personally though. You’ve attempted several conversations before but all were quickly shut down. You’re pretty sure she's Felicia’s older sister though. 

“Thank you Jakob, truly. Now who’s your friend? Never seen him around”

“Oh gosh! I forgot to introduce myself? Hi Azura, I’m Kamui, I’m mostly stuck around my house in Hoshido, so that’s probably why you don’t see much of me”

“O...taku?” 

He looks at you in disbelief. “I feel attacked, blasmephy, I can't believe I’m being accused of such things.” 

You giggle at Kamui’s dramatic display, and briefly apologize. He takes it pretty well, and explains that he’s usually on house arrest so its nothing like what she thought. 

“A pleasure to meet you too Kamui, do you mind if I also ask you some questions?”

“Shoot!”

“What's your relationship with Jakob?”

“Hm, best friend? Well I mean he’s my tutor, sister’s boyfriend, um…”

You look at your journal.

Victim was burned to death on September 4th, victim’s name is Flora _____. Intentions of murder is unknown. 

Suspects:

Jakob: talks about victim like an ex, tenses whenever asked about his relations with her. Last known at home with victim’s sister before the murder took place. 

Gunter: the manager, apparently the adoptive father of the victim and her sister. (Death of father is unknown to me). Will not answer any of my questions. Raises suspicion, not enough for me to genuinely think he killed his own adoptive daughter. Perhaps a witness?

Lilith: Apparently an old colleague. Not an actual suspect due to unknown status. Quit on a bad note. 

Niles: another regular at Gunter’s, seen several times with victim before the murder occurred. Has gone to holding over 10 times, and seems to be affiliated with some sort of gang?

“I see, did you have any relations with Flora?”

“Well, she was my co-worker before I was under house arrest, we were good friends. And uh I’d sell her pictures sometimes, and she’d find me cheaper books for my courses” 

He knew what he was doing. Smart boy. 

“What were the pictures for?”

“She did art as a minor, and since I do photography as a hobby, I’d go take pictures of certain things she wanted. Not sure why she didn’t just use the internet for those kinda stuff” 

You take note of that. Strange, but you don’t question a dead girl’s preferences. 

“Then could you help me get a photo of her body then?”

Corrin looks aghast, taken back by your request. “Excuse me?”

“I’m investigating her death as a, way to let Gunther’s open up again. I miss the food, and I want to give you all some kind of closing on her death” You give them a small smile, at least you hope it looks like it. You’d hate to give them a frown while mourning.

Kamui is hesitant to answer you. “I… would like to think that over before becoming an accomplice.”

Jakob is nagging at him, but you don’t exactly have a few hours to waste. You have another person to move onto. She’s a busy woman, and you’d like to get to her before 12. 

You ditch them and duck under the police tape. Wait...the doors are locked. Shit.

You duck back under and await your answer now. If Kamui was to accompany you, Jakob would surely hand over the keys.

“The alarms will activate. You do know that right?”

“You know the code to make it stop.”

“Then it's decided! I’ll help you since I have nothing to lose while I’m under house arrest! But I don’t have my camera with me….”

“That's fine, we’ll use my phone. You shall be my partner in... semi crime and justice.” You pat him on the back. “Would you like a gold sticker too?”

“Yes! Actually that’d be really nice!”

Jakob scribbled the code for the alarm onto your hand, and hands over the keys begrudgingly. There's a cat paw slip on one of the keys. How cute. 

You and your new partner in semi crime and justice duck under the police tape, and jam the keys into the diner door. You feel sudden dread, as it takes 15 stabbing motions to get the key to turn. You feel sudden murderous intent towards this door. You loathe it, it’s horrible in every aspect. 

As you both step into the diner, nothing happens. It's quiet, almost feels like a trap. Like in horror movies, you quietly laugh to yourself about it. 

The body isn’t here though. Time to look in the kitchens. Where else would a burnt body be? 

You push open the flimsy door, and oh, there she is. The burnt crispy body of Flora that reminds you of the ashen bodies of Pompeii. You notice how Kamui is visibly shaken. How could you comfort him? It’s not exactly your strongest points, so you merely put an arm over his shoulder and pat him on the back. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, you didn’t do anything.” He gives you a sad smile, which quickly changes to a nervous grin. “Lets not dampen the mood to much, we should hurry before we get caught!" You wholeheartedly agree. 

You hand him your phone. Oh right, you need to unlock it first. You quickly take it back and unlock it for him. As he’s snapping some pictures for you, you get to work on writing down notes. 

The kitchen is relatively clean, you don’t spot any blood right now. There's an awful stench though, no surprise there though. You’d assume the body would’ve been taken to autopsy by now. This poor girl, her justice is yet to be served. The body itself isn’t burned to the point of no return. You can see charred pieces of blue hair, and you can recognize her face. It seems like the killer had a bit of sympathy to leave her face somewhat untouched. 

You don’t find any signs of struggling. Odd for a death like hers. There’s nothing else in this room for you. You can hear Jakob shouting at you both outside. Perfect timing.

Kamui perks up. “Looks like our times up. I think I took enough pictures in different perspectives for you to look at.”

You don’t answer, there’s no need to do when you already acknowledged it. You pull Kamui out behind you, and exit through the back door. Circling back to the front, you see Jakob with Felicia. 

“Thank you for your help Kamui. I’m sorry to put you in this kind of situation though.”

“It’s fine! It was enthralling in a way, I guess. I’m just happy to help in finding whatever did this to Flora. She honestly deserved better.”

You give him a pitiful smile, and embrace him. He hugs you back, and you can hear him sniffling. You pat his back, and try to soothe the young man. 

“Thanks Azura, if you need my help. I’ll be willing to do anything”

“Can you perhaps tell me more about Jakob’s past or relationships?”

“Well, not really. My sister might be more knowledgeable on Jakob’s past though! His relationships however, I know all about!” 

You want to tell him that he shouldn’t be saying something like that so proudly. “Felicia is seen as a nuisance to Jakob, but due to childhood, he still considers her a close friend and dearly cares for her. Felicia even confessed to him in highschool, but was obviously rejected.”

He takes a deep breath, his eyes growing somber. “Flora… she had a major crush on Jakob, it didn’t show well so their relationship, became something like a pining slash rivalry kinda thing. A shame too, she never got to….” 

He pauses, and wipes some stray tears away. 

“I’m... I’m sorry. As I was saying, he and Gunter have a father-son thing going on of course. He and my sister were a thing, but some things came up and they actually broke up recently. Now I’m like they’re marriage counselor!”

You’d hate to break it to him, but he might just be a cuck instead. 

“Who’s your sister?”

“Corrin ___”

You feel a sense of dread set into your body. No wonder you felt like you’ve seen this man before. He had a striking resemblance to her. Her name gives you chills. 

“I... I see.” You don’t dare to repeat her name, scared you’d end up with a bad taste in your mouth. 

“Here I can write down–“ 

You quickly interrupt him. “No, there’s no need to. I’d prefer your number please”

He doesn’t question it, thank goodness for that. He simply puts in his phone number, and you two bid your goodbyes. What an interesting man indeed.

That’s not good. You were hoping that once you moved to Valla to study you wouldn’t even have to think about her. Seems like the people here have connections with her. You’re uneasy about this investigation now. 

Corrin, a popular Nohrian vlogger, and also the younger sister of the celebrity Camilla and CEO Xander. You can never quite pronounce their last names. 

You walk back to your car, and sit down with a tired sigh. Dated huh? You wonder how long– Oh it’s none of your business for now. You have some business to attend to now. It’s time to go. You start up the car and drive out. You roll the window down, and breathe in the salty smell of the ocean. You feel more relaxed, and calmer.

The drive to Hoshido was a short one. A quick 20 minute ride, and you’re in downtown. You go through the busy streets and pull up in one of the many rich neighborhoods. 

You get out, and stare at the two story building. One day, you hope you can afford this kind of house one day. 

It’s time for a long afternoon.


	2. Back to the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Azura takes a care ride to meet an old friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write these chapters with the time I have in school. This was a calm fun little chap

As you attempt to open the gate up to get to the door, something tackles you once you enter the lawn: a big, white, furry mound that is slobbering all over you. You giggle and pet the Great Pyrenees dog, scratching the back of his ear and messing around with his neck fluff.

 

A sharp whistle is blown and the dog immediately gets off you, kicks you in the face with his hind legs, and makes you eat his tail fur. You still love him very much.

 

“Kenki! Down boy!”

 

You roll onto your stomach, push yourself up and wipe the slobber off your face. Looks like you’ll have to do laundry even earlier for this week.

 

“Aqua, good to see you dear!”

 

“It’s Azura.” You insist, slowly picking off the stray furs from your shirt.

 

“Meh, same thing.”

 

Reina, 42 years old, but looks as beautiful and intimidating as ever. She’s like your second mom, your auntie, your best friend. Someone you trust dearly. Also happens to be Gunter’s ex-wife. You think they met in the navy, or was it the air force? It’s dependable because Reina loved to screw with you when you were younger. Her stories were questionable.

 

“I wanted to be called Aqua when I was 7. It’s been 15 years, please Reina, I’m begging you”

 

“Nonsense, reminder of a childhood mistake is amusing.” She shoos you inside, alongside her dog Kenki. “What did you come all the way down here for?”

 

“Hoshido isn’t that far from Valla compared to Nohr.” You wave away her concern. “You heard of the death of one of Gunter’s employees right? Flora, blue hair, icy eyes?”

 

Reina gives you a curious look. “Of course I do.” Her voice gets smaller. “Of course I do…”

 

“No surprise, I’m here to ask you a few questions”

 

She scoffs, not impressed at all. Usual Reina. “What are you? The cops? A homicide detective?”

 

“A law student who dabbled in forensic science throughout high school.” You point out, taking your pen and journal out.

 

Reina raises an eyebrow (you hate that you can’t do that, it looks so cool). She motions you to come in. She reminds you of a Game of Thrones character, big furry coat, big furry dog following her, amazing hair flowing behind her. The man, the myth, the legend. What a role model!

 

You step into the house, and look around. Same old, same old house. There's barely a difference from the last time you were here. Which was actually about a year ago. You just stopped going around places once you moved to Valla. After all, you have been rather busy as well. You can't really blame yourself.

 

Kenki, the dog, jumps on you as you walk to Reina's kitchen.

 

Oh no, oh no no no no.

 

You do not, absolutely not want to deal with that stupid bird. The gray parrot looks at you, as smugly as a stupid bird can. You loathed this creature during the years you lived in this house with great passion. You remember trying to love this thing, and in return, it'd steal your food and make annoying and horrible noises. You wish parrots were edible, or tasty. They probably are, but you do not want to risk getting food poisoning just to find out. However, you do not give it the satisfaction it wants.

 

You narrow your eyes as you pass by its cage.

 

"SQUAWK, blue lady back for more?" It repeats itself in the eerie manner as always. It's beady black eyes and awkward jerking motion it does with its body just isn't right. Sometimes you wonder if Reina actually bought an evil possessed bird.

 

"Kenki is, alive," you slowly say, keeping your eyes trained on the bird as Reina pushes you down to sit.

 

"Which Kenki?"

 

"Parrot Kenki."

 

"Oh! Yes, he's aged rather well, hasn't he? His sense of humor is... dry as always." Reina hums, pouring you a cup of herbal tea.

 

"...Yes, of course." You take a long sip. "Now, Reina I have a few questions–"

 

"I know, I know, I'm perfectly aware of why you're here."

 

She sighs, sitting down across you with a cup of her own tea. It smells better than yours. Huh, not shocking, but hurts your pride plenty.

 

"If I remember my information correctly, Reina ___, Gunter ___'s Ex-Wife by law, Mikoto ___'s past lover, and the 'adopted mother' of the sisters Flora and Felicia ___?"

 

She nodded, smiling. "Mhm, good memory as always Azura.” Kenki (the dog) lays his head on her lap, and she rubs his head. _Cute_ , you tell yourself.

 

"What was your relationship with the sisters?"

 

She visibly cringes.

 

"Not much of one actually, they tended to steer clear from me. I think they were scared of me.” She then sighed. “Either that, or they were wary of me. I had a closer relationship with Felicia, she was more willing to talk to me, and would try to help me whenever Flora wasn't there to stop her." Reina smiles down at her cup, and uses her finger to stir the contents inside it. "A nice girl, truly. I have nothing to say about Flora though. She was a quiet little lady who didn't cause as much trouble as Felicia, so I had no big opinion on her talking to me or not."  

 

You quickly write this down.

 

"What about the man Jakob that Gunter employed? Do you know of him?"

 

"Somewhat. He was the kid that would always visit Kamui with Corrin. I'd strike up some talks with him even before he was hired, rude kid.” Her face crinkled into disgust. “I'd cut his tongue off if I could, honestly."

 

Fair, you can understand her for that.

 

"Anything else?"

 

Her grin returned. "Oho, definitely. That fellow was the guy Felicia kept saying Flora was smitten with. Rather ridiculous, but a perfect match for those two frigid sticks."

 

You crack a smile. That sounded about right. Your smile falls, as you wonder, _What if her death wasn't a homicide?_ It could be by chance it was suicide. The face, you can't shake that thought off, couldn't be a suicide, not with the burns spreading all over. Her face, it was just too clean to be a simple oil and match suicide attempt. Though, it could make some sense.

 

You need more information.

 

You waste away a couple hours catching up with Reina, drinking tea, getting a free pastrami sandwich, and watching the evil gremlin bird and her precious large hound play with that _thing_. Sometimes you wonder if Reina just isn’t creative or she just loves pulling people's legs. Who names both of their pets ‘Kenki’?

 

4 PM, time sure does fly. You hug her and bid goodbye, and start your drive back home. You eat the pastrami sandwich as you drive, taking large bites, savoring it for only 10 minutes. A shame, though a very nice 10 minutes. The rest of the ride was uneventful, only the sound of your thoughts and the top 40’s from the radio entertains you on the car ride home.

 

The car is parked near by a small apartment complex. You get out and climb the stairs of the complex to your own humble abode. You hear your hamster, Shigure, running on his wheel. Noisy little fellow, nonetheless, cute enough for you to not want to throw him out the window.

 

You make yourself a cup of those cheap watery hot milk tea (drinking it cold is how you prefer it but you keep getting shamed for doing that). The balcony door is opened, and you sit on the balcony bean bag, watching the scenery. It seems so peaceful, it’s almost surreal. You can’t help but feel nostalgic.

 

Dwelling onto the past is something you enjoy, mostly. You can’t help but think about her, her, she, a beautiful angel, a demon. You don’t know how to describe her. She was ethereal, a being that you placed above yourself for the longest time. You know better than that now.

 

Yet, you still think back to the bittersweet moments.

 

___

 

Her hand runs through your hair as you both lay on her bed.

 

“I miss your long hair… it was so pretty.”

 

She pulls you into her lap, and starts to pet your hair.

 

You don’t reply, you know it's better not to. Because she’s right. It was prettier but you don’t have the energy to take care of such long hair now. She continues to play with your hair.

 

You let her continue, and relax in her lap. It’s such a nice day, you want it to continue as so. For her to play with your newly cut hair all day, to rest in bed, and listen as chill beats play from the radio. Maybe add in some sweet and tender kisses. The rare sweet kisses you share were things that you wished were more frequent.

 

“I….I got accepted into the school I wanted to attend. You know, the one in North Valla?”

 

Her hands move down, and she starts to caress you face.

 

“Is that so? I’m so proud of you dear, you got this far. Should we go out and celebrate?”

 

You hate it when she starts to spoil you, and tries to treat you like some kind of princess. But, it _is_ nice to treat yourself sometimes, and you feel like today is that day.

 

“Can we? If that’s ok with you, of course!”

 

You quickly sit up, and hold the hand she was caressing you with, between yours. She looks a bit taken back, but smiles so quickly you can barely tell.

 

“I’m always ok with it, and you know that.” She leans in to kiss your nose. Oh, how embarrassing, you can feel yourself heating up.

 

___

 

New headbands, comfortable fancy clothing you’d never touch yourself, new toys for your hamster, and food so expensive you cry everytime you pass by it at the grocery store.

 

She graciously buys you all these items, day by day she leaves these gifts at the doorstep of your apartment. A welcoming surprise for you after a tiring day at work. You cherished these items so much.

 

You still do, for some strange twisted reason. You can’t bring yourself to burn them.

 

___

 

“This is Kana, isn't he adorable!”

 

You stare at a greyhound puppy, who is excitedly waving his tail. She called you, and sounded so frantic. You were worried something happened, but the emergency was… just a dog.

 

“It’s a dog.”

 

“ _My_ dog! Xander finally got me a puppy like I asked! Look, I even gave him a pretty lil bandana!”

 

Yeah, you kind of noticed that. A nice simple looking dark blue bandana was tied onto the puppy’s neck. He doesn’t seem bothered, you wonder if it even knows that it’s there.

 

“What about a collar? What if he gets lost?”

 

“The bandana has his name on it. See? It’s inside though.”

 

You can think of a million things that could go wrong with that. Oh, please get this dog a proper collar, please, oh please. But, if she likes it, you’re in no place to judge her.

 

“He’s… cute.” Kana licks your hand as you rub his face. Your melted heart becomes steam. Adorable, absolutely precious. You no longer want to part ways with Kana.

 

She picks him up and rubs her face on the dog, you feel yourself smiling.

 

You still have a picture of them, hidden away in a decorated box of the many things she’s given you. So many things, left in that box that you hope to never have to take out again.

 

The sun is starting to go down, and the clouds remind you of cotton candy. You suddenly crave for cotton candy. You wish clouds were edible. Actually, you wish you could actually hold a piece of cloud. Woes.

 

You close your eyes, and listen to the nearby cars zooming by, to the chatter on the street, the wind, and the squeaky wheel that Shigure is running on.

 

Calm days.

 

You think about your trashy love life a bit more, and the people you’ve met throughout your life. That’s when you start to wonder, that maybe, this will turn out like those classical Noir detective novels you love to read. You hope not, but at the same time, you want that kind of thrill in life.

 

You’re... you’re so confused. Your love life is…. not a part of this. You have a self proclaimed case to solve, and a promise made. Your dignity won’t allow you to lie to Jakob, Kamui, or Felicia. They’re expecting something, anything about their deceased friend/sister.

 

You can not disappoint yourself either.

 

6 pm, you go back inside and go through your agenda. Work, work, you have so much work to do. And in just a handful of months before you’re back into the new semester.

 

The bed looks tempting though. The average adult human does need an adequate amount of sleep, 7 hours at minimum.

 

You should sleep. You want to wake up early tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man Corrin, is some what hard to write but she's fun nonetheless. Next chapter will be more, backstory and subplot.


	3. Tough Luck!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We think back sometimes, dont we?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> flashbacks
> 
> Edit (6/4/18) minor change to ages and dialogue.

“Jakob, when can I see Corrin again?”

 

He doesn’t have the heart to tell him, he truly doesn’t. Jakob knows he isn’t that patient. Two months is far too long in the mind of a 12 year old boy. He knows from experience.

 

“I don’t know either Kamui.”

 

His smile falters, though for only a second, Jakob feels like someone shoved their hands into his chest and squeezed his heart until it was mushy organ goop. He’s happy Kamui is so patient and understanding, compared to his sister. He doesn’t know if he could handle seeing the little boy's usual soft smile turn into an ugly, sobbing mess.

 

Kamui still smiles and nods timidly.

 

“Okay then, I’ll wait for her to come back with you then.”

 

He goes back to scribbling in his sketchbook. Crayons, markers and colored pencils splayed all over floor. What a mess. Jakob starts to sort the supplies in categories, placing them by Kamui. The little boy scribbles on his paper, Jakob thinks he can make out what the picture is.

 

3 figures, a girl with white hair and a black headband, a boy with white hair in a tiny ponytail, and another boy with messy white hair. It’s them. It's sentimental in a way, it makes Jakob’s heart ache.

 

“What are you drawing?”

 

“You, me and Corrin! I’m also drawing big brother Ryoma and Xander!” He excitedly shows him a different messy drawing of a mound of brown with bits of red and an unfinished purple mess drawn next to it. Jakob does his best not to laugh as he praises Kamui. Dang, his cheek muscles hurt now.

 

“Your drawing is cute, I’m sure everyone will love it.”

 

Kamui looks at Jakob with pure enthusiasm and beams. Oh how he treasures that smile, never change please. Such a sweet child. The little boy hums, coloring to his heart’s content. He smells… a faint whiff of something burning.

 

Jakob gets up from his spot on the floor, and exits the room. He goes into the kitchen to see Subaki and Oboro, not so subtly screaming about burning cookies. Hm, he did wonder where that charcoal smell came from.

 

“Do you two require any assistance?”

 

12 year olds. What a mess, who even allowed them in the kitchen first of all?

 

Subaki scoffs. “N-no! Not at all! Shouldn’t you be watching Kamui or something?”

 

“He’s drawing, he won’t die.”

 

“Whatever! Just, go away we don’t need your help!”

 

“FUCK, where's the fire extinguisher Subaki!”

 

“I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW OBORO!”

 

Jakob watch as the chaos increases. He goes off to grab Ryouma for help.

 

“What? Subaki and Oboro are burning the kitchen?” Ryoma slowly repeat what he’s told. “I’ll be right there–hold on, Jakob could you help them extinguish the fire? The extinguisher is downstairs, nearby Hinoka’s room.”

 

He nods reluctantly, grabbing the bright red item on the way downstairs, and back into the kitchen. He sprays Subaki's shirt that's starting to burn up along with the oven and every cookie. For safety. Also because they looked disgusting either way.

 

“Oh gods… man, our cookies.”

 

“They were a disgrace to every cookie in the world.”

 

“Blow it out of your ass Jakob.”

 

Well fuck you too.

 

“I’ll consider it.”

 

Subaki makes a disgusted face, sticking his tongue out and making a retching noise. “Ugh, nasty”

 

“Why were you two making… abominations for anyways?”

 

“For Sakura, and well everyone in general…”

 

Jakob snorts and picks up the sheet of burnt cookies and white chemicals, chucking it into the trash can. Good riddance. “Perhaps you should allow me to make them instead, since it seems obvious that neither of you are capable enough to even make a batch of cookies” Before Oboro or Subaki can argue, he pushes them out of the kitchen, and begins his work.

 

“Ugh, that pompous asshole!”  
  
___

 

“Thank you for the cookies Jakob! They were really good, big sister Hinoka rrrreeaaally liked them! You should make them again sometime! Everyone really enjoyed eating your cookies!” Kamui greets Jakob at the door, with his large happy smile, he pulls him inside and starts to go off about his day. He reminds Jakob of a little puppy, or a chihuahua, but better. A chihuahua that is actually cute and not horribly annoying.

 

“I’ll be sure to thank them for such kind compliments.” Jakob smiles warmly. “I’m just happy to help with the mess Subaki and Oboro caused in the kitchen.”

 

“How long are you going to stay today?”

 

 _Not long_ , he wanted to say. He was only here because Gunter allowed him to tag along whenever he went to Hoshido for business, or to visit his wife. Sucks living a city away. huh? There was no point in lying to Kamui though, that’d only cause more trouble for the both of them.

 

“This afternoon, Gunter didn’t want to stay here too long this time.”

 

“Oh… All right! I’ll see you again soon either way! Papa says we’re going to the zoo today!”

 

The only zoo that was considered nearby would be Nohr’s. Looks like Gunter will have one less of a passenger. It’d only be a 40 minutes walk from the zoo to home anyways.

 

“That sounds great, is everyone else going to go with you, or just your family?”

 

“Ryoma says it’ll be like a school field trip, lotsa people!” Kamui looks, very excited, contrasting Jakob's solemn stare.

 

“I-I see.”

 

He’s pulled into the kitchen, where Sumeragi and Hinoka were packing brown paper bags into one bright colorful bag. It’s flaky and cheap looking, probably free. Sumeragi and Ryoma were really good at finding bad, cheap, free things everywhere. It’s kind of terrifying the more Jakob thinks about it. Perhaps… such thoughts are best not to be delved too deeply into.

 

“Ah! Kamui, would you like to help us pack?” Sumeragi was quick to greet the little boy, lifting him up onto the counter. “Jakob, a pleasure to see you again! Are you going to accompany us as well?”  
  
“W-well, that’s only if uh–” Jakob starts to blank. “Um, that’s o-only if it’s‒”

 

“Yeah! He’s gonna come with us! Right papa?”

 

The warm welcoming smile makes Jakob’s stomach lurch. Like father, like son he supposes. “Of course he can come along, I’m sure we can always use an extra hand!” Kamui cheers, and jumps off the counter and he drags Jakob away once again, whisking him away to elsewhere in the house (more like mansion honestly). Sumeragi gives Jakob a pitiful ‘I’m sorry’ look.

 

The usual, as always. It seems conventional at this point. The same look everyone gives him, as if they are sorry, for what though? That is something Jakob could never understand. Why do they always give him that look of pity for? Was it because it he was Nohrian? He knows Hoshidians don’t deal well with Nohrians, but perhaps it’s because-

 

“Jakob? Jakob, are you ok?”

 

His voice breaks his frantic introspection.  

 

–Was it because they thought this child as a nuisance?

 

Jakob licked his lips nervously, his voice hoarse. “Y-yes, of course. I’m sorry, I was lost in thought for a moment. What were you saying?”

 

“I have to go feed Dwyer, can you help me? He doesn’t like me much you see.”

 

“Oh, yes–” Jakob mentally slaps himself. Yeah, of course, Dwyer, that weird little guinea pig that was his class’s pet. “Come on then, is that all you have left to do?”  
  
“Nah, I still need to shower. At least that’s what Papa said. I told him I already showered last night though! He never believes me.”

 

Huffy, pouty, whiny, perhaps, that was why he always got those pitiful look from people. Pitiful people, who do not have such patience for great people.

 

“Come on, where did you put Dewyer this time? Hopefully not in the your backyard again…”

 

Pitiful people, who are not capable.

 

“Here!”

 

___

 

“These are my girls, they’ll be living with us now Jakob.”

 

There stood in front of him was a little girl that barely reached his shoulder who was shaking, and a taller girl with an indifferent expression. A pair of sisters.

 

“Okay.”

 

They won’t bother him, he’s sure they won’t, he’ll make sure of it. Yet they work their way around it, they follow him around, ask him too many question, and worse of all, the younger sister was an absolute klutz. Horrible, plates ruined, carpets burnt, and clothes ruined.

 

Yet they’re so close to her, so close, closer than he is. It’s unfair, unfair unfair unfair, never fair for him. Never, never never never _never_. Why?

 

“Jakob, are you feeling sick today?”

 

Smile, pretend it’s ok, at least she’s here, at least you are still special to her. Smile, smile, don’t make her worried about you. You don’t need to make her worried. Don't make her worry even more.

 

“No, just a little dizzy from today’s run. Nothing out of the ordinary”

 

“Good! We don’t wanna miss book club today! Felicia said she wanted to talk about _The Outsiders_ more last week, so I don’t want ya to miss it!”

 

That was their thing, it was _their_ thing.

 

The world truly is unfair.

 

___

 

“This is Silas, Corrin’s new playmate, so you three can focus more on your studies.”

 

A young boy, probably the same age as them or a year younger. Spiked up hair, ridiculous looking, a large smile. It was unnerving to him. However, they were quick to get along, perhaps she was just easy to get along with. Yes, that’s why.

 

Felicia became his friend as well, the three of them, all acting like chums. He can’t stand that little boy, running around the mansion with both of them barefoot.

 

The sound of them running around echoing on and on through the halls. _Pitter patter pitter patter pitter patter-_ he can’t stand it, can stand it any more. He doesn’t have the courage to say so. Doesn’t have the power to do so.

 

Jakob watches from the living room, book in hand, watching the little girl and little boy upstairs run hand in hand.

 

“One day I’m gonna take you to the park and then we can play in the lake!”

 

“I’ve never seen a lake before!”

 

“I’ll be like your knight in shining armor!”

 

“I wanna be the dragon then!”

 

“You can’t be the dragon if I’m the knight! The knight always kills the dragon in stories.”

 

“Nuh-uh! In the stories Jakob and Flora tell me, the dragon is a coooool guy who lived in a castle and had a family!”

 

“No way!”

 

The world is so cruel in its own way, always.

 

___

 

“Jakob!”

 

“Happy birthday, princess.”

 

The girl giggles, swinging her arms around without a care in the world, happily embracing him. Always so joyous, and excitable.

 

“That nickname sucks! Only Xander calls me that, it’s only slightly worse than what Ryoma calls me!” She makes a face, bringing her arms in. Her exaggerating hand gestures were adorable to Jakob.

 

“What does he call you?”

 

“Little dragon.”

 

He stare at her blankly… a few seconds of starting and silence. Jakob cracks a smile, and starts to laugh. Corrin joins in, laughing contently with him. “Really? That seems, very much like Ryoma to call you by such a silly nickname.”

 

“Kamui says it’s not as bad as what he managed to call Takumi though.

 

“At this point I don’t want to know.”

 

Corrin swats the topic away quickly. Always quick to change the subject, she’s good at it at least.

 

“I’m 16 today! Isn’t that exciting? I’ll be able to drive a car soon!” She makes a few _vroom vroom_ noises, and pretends to be steering a wheel. “Your birthday is only a few months away! You’ll be–” She winks and nudges him, it’s extremely uncomfortable what she’s implying. “Able to legally drink!”

 

“That's… not exactly something to be happy about but I suppose it means I’ll be an actual adult, and be able to make decisions like buying cigarettes and alcohol. Fun stuff I suppose.” Jakob shrugs nonchalantly, he’s not very interested in things such as…

 

He digresses. “Perhaps you might indulge in such things more than me.”

 

“Boo hoo, sometimes I wonder how girls chase after you. Mr Joykill!”

 

“They stop once they start talking to me,” he deadpans.

 

Corrin snorts. “You’re right. Perhaps you’ll get your true love once you learn how to shut your mouth for a moment.”

 

“Woes, I guess I’ll be missing out on clingy girlfriends who don’t know what personal space is.”

 

Soft laughter and playful punches.

 

“Open up the present.”

 

He hands ber a small box, wrapped in patterned paper and tied nicely on the top, was a purple ribbon. She takes it, and shakes the box softly. The box is opened carefully, saving the wrapping paper and ribbon from destruction. Corrin softly gaps when she takes out the item from the box.

 

“Oh, it’s beautiful!”

 

 _Just like you_.

 

___

 

“You’ve been avoiding me.”  
  
Kamui froze, nervously looking away from her. He shuts his locker, and walks away, attempting to hide his face.

 

“Hey, don’t ignore me. I thought we had a closer bond than that, _brother._ ”

 

He sighs and looks at his sister with a painful smile that looks far too fake to even pass off as one. It looks more like a grimace. “You know I don’t like the people you hang around–”  
  
“What? Felicia, Flora, Jakob? Are you scared of them? Camilla? Leo? Don’t tell me you’re scared of Laslow or something.”

 

“No!” Kamui shakes his head, and tries to find a way to protest, stumbling over his words. “ No, just– listen to me Corrin. I just don’t feel comfortable with them all, alright? Is that bad, is it bad to let yourself feel assured with other people? I don’t like Jakob as much as he thinks, and you know how I feel about Niles. For fuck’s sake, Peri almost stabbed me, TWICE!”

 

He waves his hands around, pacing back and forth with an upset tone in his voice. “Niles is a horrible guy with a bad moral compass who seriously ruined my idea of a good relationship, Jakob has a fucked up definition of devotion and friendship, Peri is literally a psychopath with NO redeemable traits, Odin is all right but you know I can't handle his personality, Laslow doesn’t know how to back off–” He takes another breath. “Beruka should have graduated by now and no one knows why she’s still here, Selena is a grade A bitch and you know it too! Literally the only person that’s cool in your entire groupie is probably Silas! He’s actually really nice, and sweet!”

 

Kamui takes deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He looks at her again, then turns back. He goes back on his way, up the stairs to his next class.

 

She stood in silence, was it shock? Fear? Guilt? Worry. There was nothing to say, there never was.

 

“What does he want me to say, sorry?”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Worrisome Troubles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1 month, and it already looks like a murder never even took place here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cant believe dnd cucked me for a week and then i lost motivation and played smash bros.

You stare at the newly opened building, looking like a murder never happened inside. A good month has passed,  and you’ve managed to collect more information. Meager, but more than you expected in a month. Life goes same as always as well of course. You get out of your car, deciding that making this inner monologue any longer would make you seem like a stuffy protagonist. No one reads this shit anyways.

 

As you enter the diner,  a small arm shoots up in the air and waves at you. You walk towards it and sit down at the booth, where Kamui is. You shake hands, and greet each other as politely as anyone could at 6 in the morning.

 

“I thought you lived in Hoshido?”

 

He nodded. “Break, I usually spend them with my other family, but Jakob and Felicia were nice enough to let me stay at their place due to… some issues in the house. Nohr is very passionate about the holidays!”

 

“Oh that’s right, Halloween is coming up in… about 20 days?” That's over two weeks, yet you aren’t surprised. Halloween is a pretty big holiday in Nohr. They take the whole trick or treating and costume thing very seriously. You remember being told about it by a few folks who used to live in Nohr.

 

“So did my photography skills come in handy for your case?”

 

You nodded. “Very much. I’ve managed to narrow down a few people I hope to get the time to interrogate. Thank you.”

 

He looks proud of himself, you swear his cheeks get a bit pink. “Not a problem! I mean. it’s not illegal until you get caught right?”

 

He’s got the same mindset as you. Truly a good partner in semi crime and justice. You reach over to pat him on the shoulder.

 

“You have learned well, partner.”

 

“Did you already eat?’

 

“Not yet, I’ll probably go ask Gunter or Felicia if they have any burnt toasts or messed up croissants later. They give me those for free.”

 

Kamui nods slowly, and gives you an ‘OK’ hand sign. “I can respect that”

 

“I am a very respectful person of business, thank you.”

 

There's a moment of silence, before shattered by the sound of chairs moving and yelling from the kitchen feels louder. Kamui is drinking his water in one go. Amazing, drinking ice water at 6 am without hesitation. You’re surprised that nothing spilled on him. He slams the cup down, and pulls you out the door with a frantic look in his eyes. Why hasn’t he swallowed all that water yet? He’s going to choke.

 

He drags you inside the kitchen (Is he even allowed in there?), where Felicia greets you both with an eager chirp. You wave at her, and quickly pulled away again. He stops by the freezer, and finally swallows all the goddamn water. He’s out of breath, his legs are shaking.

 

You want to ask him what’s wrong, but you feel that’s be a bit too ‘captain obvious’.

 

“Hey, Azura… can I ask you something?” That poor boy looks shaken up.

 

“You’re already asking me a question though.” You can’t help but reply with a snark response. He cracks a smile.

 

“Haha, very funny.” He leans on the wall, sliding down to the floor. “Hey Azura, you wouldn’t happen to be one of my sister’s exes right?”

 

You bite your tongue, and try not to respond negatively or angrily. There’s no reason for such aggression, but he sounded so _nosy_ and—that’s not the point. It’s not the point, you don’t need to lash out or get angry. He asked, he asked if he could ask, et cetera. You slide down onto the ground, sitting next to him. You hand your head, and stare down at the palm of your hand.

 

“Yes, I was. I’m actually rather surprised how I never met you when I was dating her.”

 

“She doesn’t keep around people.”

 

“We were at thing for two years.”

 

He winces. “Harsh, I wonder why she never introduced me to you then. She just loves to rub it in my face how nice her love life is”

 

“...That’s a dick move. So why are we here talking about my ex/your sister?”

 

“Oh, because I saw her coming in, and whenever she and Jakob are in the same room, it gets really uncomfortable”

 

“What?”

 

He gives you a very pitiful glance, his smile is pained. “Really? Out of the two years, you never noticed this shit goin’ on beneath your nose?” You are genuinely confused and distressed now.

 

“Oh lord, you poor soul,” he murmured mournfully and goes to hug you, but you push him away.

 

“Please explain what you mean.”

 

His eyes widened. “Oh, you’re serious? You never realized this shit? Like, their lovey dovey bullshit milady act, y'know!”

 

You’ve never seen someone look so alarmed, Kamui looks like he’s about to cry his eyes out. “Please don’t tell me you never even knew that you never knew they were probably fucking while you were dating please—“

 

“They were _what?_ ”

 

“Fucking,” he squeaked.

 

You take a deep breath, and speak slowly. “I heard what you said, what I mean is… she’s been cheating on me for the two years we were together?”

 

He’s smiling like he’s at gunpoint.

 

“Y-yes? Kind of? Maybe!”

 

You feel goosebumps all over your arms, spreading to your legs. It’s like someone doused you in cold water and left you out in a storm. A dreadful disgusting wrenching sensation in your guts. When you look at your hands again, they’re shaking. Are you truly cold? Perhaps it is fear, are you shaking in fear? Or is it the realization how stupid you really are? Ha! And you thought you would’ve realized that she was cheating on you for two whole slutty years.

 

Kamui looks away, you can see his ears are bright red. Why is he embarrassed? You should honestly be thanking him, but then again what’s the point of learning of this two years later?

 

“Wait, why would she even be here? She lived in Nohr and liked it very much last time I checked.”  
  
“Last time you checked was—”

 

“I get it, two years ago, 48 months ago. I get it Kamui, thank you.”

 

“She’s probably here just to see Jakob, or Silas. He lives on the outskirts of town, so there’s no surprise there.”

 

Silas, it’s a familiar name but you can’t put your finger on it. Hmm… did you know a Silas? Silas, Silas, Silas, pointy hair?

 

“Look, I just think we might have dodged a bullet! It’d be a nightmare if she saw me with you, gosh I don’t need that kind of stuff right now. Especially with her–”

 

Kamui hides his face inside with his hands. You can barely make out what he says, muffled speech isn’t something you tried to learn yet.

 

You try to calm him down by hugging him. He’s not much under that big t-shirt, it’s not at all like hugging a teddy bear. He’s still shaking, but at least his breathing is evening out. You rub circles around his back, shushing him every once in awhile. You hope this does actually calm him down and not make him feel more shitty, this is how Reina calm you down, so this better work on him too.

 

As that’s going on, you’re stuck in this position. So you take your time looking around. Food, food, oh heck a pigeon, plates, a knife, more knives, food, and blood…? Yeah there’s blood on the floor. Just beneath the stainless steel tables. The tables are actually a lot more distracting than the blood, but you really should focus. But, gosh dang, those tables. _There is a plate of perfectly good cut strawberries right there on the tables_. You have enough strength to return your focus on the more disturbing sight in front of you.    

 

You clearly remember that the body did not suffer any trauma or physical injuries. The body didn’t indicate any of that. Well, then again, you didn’t do a full on autopsy, you simply deduced that idea. So you know something new. Then again it could also be blood from an accident? Anyone can cut themselves on a sharp item underneath the table. Hmm, sarcasm aside, that really is fishy.

 

You’re pretty sure you could ask Felicia for an autopsy report. After all, close family members can receive such documents. You don’t want to have to find other unsavory ways to get such info. It’s just plain extra and dumb.

 

Kamui seemed to have calmed down now, and is laying on your shoulder staring into space. Man, he’s really out of it.

 

“I’ll go look if she’s left yet, alright stay here.” You pat his head, and he slides down to the floor. Dang, that’s some pretty nasty floor but hey, it’s not your hair or clothes getting dirty. Oh wait, yeah it kinda is. Your hair touches the floor, and so does you clothes. Checkmate.

 

You peek from the service window, or at least, you think that’s what its called. You actually have no idea what the correct term for it is.

 

Outside, you see Felicia looking back at you.

 

“Hi Az—!”

 

You quickly cover her mouth and shush her. “Is Corrin out there?”

 

“Mfesh?”

 

You take your hand off her mouth and wipe it over a towel on the table.

 

“Thank you Felicia, don’t tell her we’re here okay?’

 

“ _We?_ ”

 

You seat yourself back in front of the freezer, propping Kamui back up. He’s blinking now at least. You listen as shitty 80’s music plays in the background. Looks like someone used that old, rusty jukebox. As you listen to the music and daydream, the man you’re cradling jerks away. Kamui suddenly goes stiff, he stands up, opens the freezer, jumps in and closes the door quickly.

 

“Hey, wait!” You’re about to open it up again until you notice why he ran into the fridge. You see Niles step into the kitchen, wearing something only an employee would wear. Hey, that’s weird, you remember he was an exotic dancer at ‘Demon's Falls’. No, that also doesn’t seem right, wasn’t he that cashier you’d normally see whenever you went to Whole Foods? What the hell?

 

Before you can also join Kamui in fridge land, he sees you and looks ecstatic. You on the other hand, wish to grab the nearest knife and plunge into your throat. Maybe you could blame it on him.

 

“Azura! Long time no see!”

“Niles.”

 

“What? Nothing else to say? Harsh comin’ from you”

 

“It’s nothing personal Niles. What are you doing here?”  
  
“I _work_ here. What are _you_ doin’ back here? This is employees only.”

 

His retort is true and you’ve ran out of snark juice this morning. 7 am you isn’t really your best you. You know that, because at the moment, you are 7 am you.

 

”I’m hiding from my estranged ex girlfriend of course.”

 

He raises an eyebrow at you. God, does everyone just know how to do that? It’s like everyone but you know how to raise one eyebrow. That’s unfair.

 

“Corrin? She just left with Silas, poor guy. He had to witness her eating Jakob’s face.”

 

“I shall mourn for his chances then.”

 

“So are you going to get out?”

 

“No, no I will not.”

 

Kamui is still inside that freezer and you do not intend on leaving him there with only Niles in the kitchen. The freezer is not the best place to hide if you don’t want to be found.

 

“And why’s that?”

 

He sounds amused, and you really don’t like that.

 

“I’m waiting for Felicia to get off break, I have business with her/”

 

“You can wait outside”

 

You’re about to make a convoluted lie, but then the freezer door opens up. Kamui is pulling out a bag of peas.

 

“Hey Azura can you help me carry this bag of peas outside?”

 

He’s doing a swell job at lying, and pretending not to see Niles right there. Kudos to him, cheers and all. You quickly get over there and heave the other side of the bag up.

 

“Also, why I was waiting? See you later Niles.”

 

The two of you skiddaddle out, gosh, you can just feel Niles’ eyes burning into your skull. Great. Once you two make it outside with your bag of beans, Jakob stops you.

 

“W-what in the world? Just what do you think you two are doing with all those peas?!”

 

“Niles-is-inside-and-I-needed-an-excuse-please-save-us,” Kamui quickly spews out your reasoning, but it ends up sounding a lot more jumbled then intended.

 

Jakob only sighs, silently ushering you both outside. Before he leaves you alone, he assures Kamui he’ll deal with Niles again.

 

He looks visibly shaken up, but you can’t take this man seriously while he's holding a giant bag of peas. Kamui turns to you, dropping the peas into your arms and sighs in relief. You grunt as the heavy weight is transferred over to you. You can’t hold onto it for long, and drop it, your lungs feel less strained now! Great!

 

“Thank you so much for playing along with my bullshit escape route, I was starting to freeze in there.”

 

“You were inside for like 2 minutes. _Barely_ 2 minutes.”

 

“I don’t do well in the cold okay!” He looks so offended, you don’t understand why, but it’s not you that’s offended, so oh well. “But really, thanks a lot. I—I really really can handle being around him... “

 

You give him a sympathetic pat, and hug him. Hugging it out always works out. “It’s okay Kamui, there’s no need to continue. I understand.” You let go, and his mood seems to improve just a little bit. It’s enough for him to give you a nervous unsure smile.

 

“Thank you, I really wish I met you two years ago”

 

“Yeah, I kinda wish I knew you even existed.”  


___

 

Jakob lands a blow on Niles, pummeling his face until it was bruised and bloodied (Does a bleeding nose count?).  Niles let himself get pulled around by his collar. He didn’t try to defend himself. There were no words exchanged, just brutal blows and the faintest grin on the other’s face.

 

A few minutes of repeating punches, Jakob throws Niles on the ground.

 

“You couldn’t wait until my shift was over? You know he’ll know it’s you again.” Niles pinches his nose, waiting for the stream of blood to cease. “You don’t do a good job at this.”

 

“Shut up! You shut your trap, or I swear to god I won’t hold back you—you–” Jakov points an angry finger at Niles, his head hurts, he doesn’t have time for this. His breathing grows shallower. He turns back and walks out, fist clenched. Niles can see his form shaking; he always makes himself out to be such a good man, but in the end he's just the same. A coward.

 

Niles sighs, laying back down on the floor. The back really isn’t the best place to beat a man senseless. Cars that pass by the street get a clear view. Hah, perhaps karma might bite that bitter man in the ass. Niles would like to see that happen. Though it probably wouldn’t be as amusing as he’d imagine.

 

“Ah— Niles! Oh gosh what happened this time?” Felicia opens the door quickly, hitting his knee. He winces, turning onto his sides, and clutches his poor knee. Sharp steel edges don’t mix well with kneecaps. “I’m sorry, is there something wrong?”

 

“You busted my kneecaps.”  
  
“When? Oh! Oh no, I’m really sorry Niles, here I’ll help you up—”

 

He waves her off, slowly sitting up. “No, I’ll manage myself. Tell the old man I’ll be off because someone busted my knee.”

 

“I’m really sorry…” Felicia’s face is red with embarrassment. “W-Wait, it’s only 7 still.”

 

Niles shakily stands up, using the wall to limp towards the parking lot. He slips once, and he makes sures that’s the last time. There's no need to get run over at a time like this. Niles opens the door to his old car.

 

He lays his head on the wheel, and rests. His head is spinning, the world is a blur, spinning and a little yellow. Sleep would be nice, perhaps he’ll sleep for a little before he heads home.

 

___

 

“Can you make it?”  
  
“Yeah, I’ll come visit you don’t worry. I’d hate to miss your performance.” You places her bag down, taking her shoes off and dropping onto the couch. “You have hyped me up for awhile either way.”  
  
“I know, I know, and I’m not very sorry. You’ve given me the courage to try it out here since well…”

 

“Hungover, and potentially drunk potheads won’t notice anything out of place if you do mess up. Which I doubt, you’re amazing at what you do.”

 

“I’m blushing on the other side already, but truly I’m thankful for you pushing me towards this. It may be a small step but—“

 

“I know Laslow, go do your thing. I’ll be there tonight, don’t worry.”

 

“I’ll see you there”

 

There’s a soft click as you hang up. The door is swung open, and your shoes are shucked off into the shoe cabinet. The apartment is as quiet as ever, only the sound of wood chips moving around in Shigure’s cage.

 

You lay down on your couch, deep in thought. This investigation… it’s getting you nowhere at the moment. You can’t even go pointing fingers yet. There's just too many possibilities that could happen.

 

There's a buzz from your phone, a text.

 

**From:️️️️ Dancing Queen**

21098 Pasdela Ave

Or else ull disappoint us :,((

**sent 11:02 pm. Read**

 

You smile. Perhaps tonight is a good way to take a break. Just tonight.

 

Relax.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is gonna be a bit sparodic.


	5. No crying in the club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its time to boogie down.

An alarm wakes you up from your amazing nap. You’re almost tempted to press snooze and sleep for 17 more hours. But alas, you have a club to get to, and a friend to support. Snooze or lose babes. You kiss Shigure goodbye (his cage, not the actual animal) and get ready. An hour left, then you gotta leave. Nohr’s about 45 minutes with no traffic. You have to remind yourself that you’re doing this for Laslow, you have to get there on time…no excuse.

 

You need to change into a more appropriate set of clothing that isn’t a week old dirty hoodie and sweatpants. You open up your small closet; there's not much in there except an old suit and a handful of dresses. Half of them are white, not really the best sort of snazzy clothing to wear out to a club. 

 

The only outfit you have that's dark in color would be your old suit, a short black dress you got as a gift, and an ugly romper you regret never returning. The suit seems a bit too much… but the dress would also absolutely wreck your dignity. The romper is a big no.

 

Down goes your dignity, choo choo! Welcome to embarrassment express, your legs are just full of bruises from bumping into tables! What an excellent way to show of you  _ very bruised leggers _ . 

 

You examine it, bringing to your body to compare. This thing barely covers anything. Maybe you should go ask Laslow if he had any dresses in his apartment. His roommate probably won’t mind.

 

**From Azura: to Dancing Queen**

I need a dress

sent 5:20 pm. Read. 

 

Bitch, answer me. 

 

**From Dancing Queen: to Azura**

?? Do I look like I have a dress just wear ur dirty pajamas and come

Sent 5:21 pm. Read.

 

**From Azura: to Dancing Queen**

Your roomie

Sent 5:21 pm. Read. 

 

**From Dancing Queen: to Azura**

I like my head so no :/

Sent 5:22 pm. Read. 

 

**From Azura: to Dancing Queen**

I’m not embarrassing myself in front of people at a club I know. The one you’re performing at is owned by Xander so of course it’s going to be fancy as all balls

Sent 5:23 pm. 

 

There's no reply after a couple minutes so you set your phone down to shower. A shower, because deodorant doesn’t solve  _ everything _ . Looks like you’ll be wearing the black dress (with a long winter coat for extra measures) until Laslow can give you something else. 

 

You actually end up standing under the showerhead for 20 minutes straight staring at your tits. Something really bothered you about the blood in the kitchen, and you also forgot to ask Felicia to get the autopsy report too. Mysteries that you wish were laid out more clearly. Then again what's the point of a murder if you don’t get away with it? 

 

You step out of the bathtub, and dry off quickly. More like patted yourself with a towel then stay mostly wet. You throw yourself onto your bed, half commando and very much comfortable. Dinner can wait. You roll around in bed. The blood couldn’t be an accident, there's just no way...unless the blood was forgotten? Never seen by the killer. 

 

But, how would that happen when they planted enough evidence to show it was a murder and not a suicide, yet somehow forget about a patch of blood underneath the tables? Then again humans aren’t perfect. The killer might have been sloppy with the rest of clean up. 

 

Your head hurt. Being exposed to cold air and thinking on an empty stomach can seriously mess with you. 

 

Out of bed to eat raw celery then. You wash a big ol’ stick of celery and slather peanut butter all over it. You take a big bite of your glorious sticky crunch stick. Mhmmm...the cronch, crunch, snap, crackle, pop. Man you want some Rice Krispies now. 

 

You take your sweet time eating, and cleaning your mouth of any leftover celery stuck between your teeth; including peanut butter that may have stuck around the back. 

 

**From Dancing Queen: to Azura**

I got your back, got a dress from the boss lady

Sent 5:58 pm. Read. 

 

Nice, fuuuuck your black dress. Baggy pants and sweaters here you come! You have two minutes left, so throwing on anything you first see is what you do. You grab your basic necessities, your small journal, a pen, phone, and keys. Oh right, and wallet you need your wallet. It has your ID. 

 

Here comes the long boring car ride. It’s what you expected. Traffic on the 180 highway North was always a pain to get through, and there were at least two car wrecks that you past by. And of course, a car almost wrecks your side mirror. Nohr’s streets suck. This is why most people walk around there areas. Though that’s equally as dangerous. Dang, Nohr sucks a lot. 

 

Parking...parking was equally as bad around here. When you lived here, you couldn’t even find parking spots outside your shared garage. None, not one spot nearby even in your own goddamn home. 

 

You manage to steal someone’s spot. It’s not the best idea, but the worst they can do is yell about how much of a dick you are. You agree, stealing parking spots is a dick move, but you don’t have the time to run around another 30 minutes looking for one. So God bless, and may karma not strike you down…you feel like one day you’ll soon be in the same predicament as that dude. Woes! 

 

No time to think about that now—you have an exotic dancer to catch and a show to support!

 

The good thing about being the ex girlfriend of a major CEO’s adopted sister is getting a VIP/Credit Card for every Krakenburg owned establishment. You can cut any line and get any good accounts.

 

Cards are awesome, and you cut these losers in line. You give the bouncer a pair of finger guns and a still poker face. What is UP Keaton! 

 

You take your time pushing through the crowd. Obnoxiously loud electro music pumps through the speakers, and it's surprisingly chilly in here. Thank you very strong AC, Demon Falls you beautiful bastard. God…you think you felt someone’s boner on your thigh. This is extremely uncomfortable, you forgot how uncomfortable this place also is. The flashing neon light proves your point. 

 

You make it towards the stage, where you see a very familiar face standing by the door to the stage rooms. Or, at least you think that's what they’re called. Back door? Back rooms? Not the point, you see—OH SHIT WHAT'S UP IS THAT LEO? 

 

Losing all past train of thought you surf your way through the sea of people, and slide into the booth.

 

“Why hello there… Niles? Wow that's a lovely uh–” You wince and (subtly) point at his blackeye he didn’t bother to conceal. Leo’s quiet laughter isn’t heard but you catch his shoulders moving a bit and the small smile on his face. Nice. 

 

Niles waves away your comment lazily. Odin opts to be the one to tell you his tragic mishap. Apparently Felicia hit him in the eye with a doorknob when he was getting up from… you don't catch what he says but it sounds weird. 

 

“What were you doing on the ground?”

 

“Sitting on the ground on my phone. Breaks exist Azura.”

 

“...I see.” 

 

You spend your time talking to your old colleague, college classmate, and your ex’s foster brother (he is by the far the coolest sibling she has). 

 

You kindly excuse yourself from the group once Leo starts to look drowsy. There's no need to overstay with these three idiots anyways. Gotta move onto other fishes in the vast humid sea after all! 

 

You spend your time around the bar, sadly pulling out birthday money to buy a small cocktail. You’re definitely going to take your time drinking one glass of this blue thing for three hours. 

 

You finally decide to stop hanging around the bar once you feel a pair or two of eyes staring at you. Probably judging you for not wearing something nice like girls usually do when they go to clubs. This is where you head back around to the Three Amigos table. You don’t see Leo around anymore, but you do find Laslow and Subaki taking up the seats now. Now it's the four amigos. 

 

“Well, you’ve changed already.”

 

“Leather is pain, I can feel parts of it chafing my thighs.”

 

You push take a seat next to him, and offer any of them your rancid cocktail. Odin gladly takes it, you think you could feed him almost anything sometimes…. his tastes really aren’t that great to you. 

 

“So when are you up?”

 

“He has about uh…” Niles takes a look at his phone. “20 minutes before he has to go upstage and perform.” 

 

“What he said.”

 

You nod slowly, feeling a bit dizzy from all of that now. “So, my dress?” 

 

“Haha, I don’t have it! Camilla has it for you on hand, gotta scram now for preps.” Laslow takes your hands and gives it a small kiss to the top. 

 

“Cheer for me!” Bidding adieu, he leaves you with the Three Dumber Amigos. Bitch, he knows how much you hate hanging around her. It’s so weird and threatening just being in the same room as her. 

 

Subaki has been oddly quiet. Odin has finished your nasty anime swimming pool blue cocktail, and Niles looks half asleep. It’s awkwardly quiet now.

 

“S-so are you and Camilla still a thing?” You nervously ask Niles. He looks very unimpressed. Damn, all right fine, guess you’ll all wallow in awkward silence you prick. 

 

“Maybe.” 

 

You’re going to backhand this man oneday. No matter how hilarious or amusing he may be when you are alone. He is insufferable when you are with others. “Ok then, wallow in the suffering of the uncomfortable silence.” 

 

“Never knew you were one for gossip and all Azura,” Subaki intervenes. “Or you’re just really bad at starting conversations properly.”

 

“Wanting to know how your friend and his girlfriend is doing doesn’t equal to gossip,” you sighed exasperatedly.

 

“It is when his girlfriend barely counts as one.”

 

“Now that's just rude, to the both of us.” 

 

You reluctantly agree. Camilla’s relationship status was always a mess, and she has more flings than actual relationships. Perhaps her less than subtle obsession with her little sister (and brother, but that's less known) scared suitors away. 

 

Poor Selena, you heard she was smitten with Camilla. 

 

Niles sighs. “But you aren’t wrong Subaki.”

 

“Hmph, I rarely am.”

 

You take yourself away from the conversation, and stick with patting Odin’s head. You don’t know exactly when he passed out, but it seems none of you noticed. 

 

Then finally, fucking finally, you see Laslow introduced on stage.

 

You would scream if your dignity would allow it, bless you Subaki for yelling in your stead.    
  
“GO LASLOW, WORK IT BABE!”   
  
“Did you just call him babe?”   
  
“I BELIEVE IN YOU, I PARKED VALET FOR THIS!” 

 

You are weak, your dignity is bullshit anyways. You and Subaki scream and holler, hopefully encouraging Laslow instead of outright embarrassing him. He didn’t seem to flinch or hesitate through it all so you can both assume you’re encouraging words weren’t heard through the loud music; Or he’s confident enough to not stop for a moment to strangle them. 

 

“BREAK A LEG!”

 

“Niles I’m going to cho—“

 

“That’s kinky…”

 

“YOU’RE DOING GREAT HONEY!” 

 

The banter and compliments go on until the song fades out, and Laslow makes his fashionable exit. You and Subaki shake hands, nodding heads, and pat each other on the back. Mutual respect earned. 

 

Honestly you would have stayed longer, if not for the fact that you see Camilla coming by. You don’t think she saw you  _ yet _ , so you make a break for it. Quickly apologizing to Subaki, and giving Niles a quick hug (he tells you it felt more like you were squeezing his organs out, but you digress) and slide by the bar—far from where Camilla was at. 

 

You feel grateful that you’re good old friend Kaden was on shift now. Because this meant less avoiding and awkwardness when you have a guy like Kaden around to back you up. A good guy, truly and honestly from the bottom of your heart you would have continued dating him if you were more used to his energetic behavior. 

 

“Azura!!” He almost drops the martini glass he was holding in his hands. “Hi, hi, and hi! I haven’t seen you in….forever it feels like!” 

 

“Only a few months,” you smile, and rush him to go back into doing his job. Aka pouring lousy drinks for some prissy rich sn—oh my fucking god that is XANDER RIGHT THERE. You are mortified, what was the point. What the fuck was the point of going to the BAR IF XANDER IS RIGHT HERE!?

 

You’re about to leave before you feel a hand on your shoulder. You tense up, and look back. 

 

“Hey...Xander”

 

He pulls back his hand and goes into a defensive posture. “I’m… I’m sorry if I—“ You wave your hand around and cut him off.

 

“Its okay… I was just hoping I wouldn’t run into you, or your sister. I mean, Elise would be cool but you knoooow” you trail off awkwardly. God you hate this, please just go away.

 

“If you’re worried that I’m mad about…” Xander goes on about something but you just  _ really _ want to leave at the moment. Like, right now right now RIGHT NOW WOULD BE REALLY GOOD. You feel like your chest is pressing inwards and it's hard to breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe oh please leave. At this point you aren’t paying attention—

 

“Mister Xander, your brother’s being carried around by his two friends again.” 

 

Kaden thank you, you beautiful beautiful weird ass furry. You could kiss this man right now, but you won’t because you can. Xander sighs, and gives you an apologetic glance before leaving the bar.

 

“Thank you so… much Kaden.” You didn't even know you were holding your breath until you let out a sigh of relief. “I owe you my firstborn child.”

 

“I don’t want your child though.”

 

“I’ll uh, I’ll give you a hug?”

 

“Aw yes, I can never say no to a hug from you!”

 

You both hug real quick (because god, does the bar counter dig into your pelvis) and have a good laugh about it. “By the way, how’d you think Laslow do tonight?”

 

“I wasn’t able to watch it sadly… hopefully one of my co-workers recorded it!” 

 

You continue to chat for a bit, talking about the simple small things in life. Kaden asks you if you’re eating all right, if Shigure is still alive and misses him, how you’re doing in school. He even asks you how Kamui is coping with the loss of Flora. You're somewhat surprised that he knows Kamui. Apparently he gets around a lot.

 

“That’s probably something he can tell you for himself.”

 

“Yeah, that's true.”

 

You ask him how he’s doing living in Nohr, how he’s dealing with his roommate, and how… his...gods you really don’t want to say it. You really don’t. 

 

“I should leave.”

 

“You should. Laslow and Subaki are leaving right now. You should go with them.”

 

“Yeah, I will. Say hi to your roomie for me.”

 

“Call me more!!”

 

“I will, promise.”

 

You push your way out, and make it outside to call Laslow.

 

Ring.

 

Ring.

 

Ring.

 

Beep.

 

“Y’ello?”

 

“Are you still here?”

 

There's a brief pause of silence, shuffling, and whispers. You swear to god if Subaki and Laslow are making out in Subaki’s car, you’ll just go sleep in your car. 

 

“Uh, yeah why?”

 

“Gonna crash at your place, keys?”

 

“Um—“

 

More shuffling, and groans.

 

“Fuck, ok Azura, just wait for me at the door and I’ll be there soon okay?”

 

“Use protection”

 

“Hey w—“

 

You hang up before you get some tonguelashing from Laslow. Time to hit the hay at Laslow's and hope you fall asleep before you can hear em fucking the next room over. You walk to your car, and slowly drive to Laslow’s little place he shares with Peri, Selena, and Odin. A comfy little house. It’s so cute… and crowded. In fact you don’t even have to open the doors because Selena is home. She lets you in, and even gives you half her key lime pie to eat for dinner. You take an aspirin pill and hit the hay. 

 

Sleeping soundly on their sofa that’s full of dirty sweatshirts and Dorito crumbs. 


	6. Shit let's get Real!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wake up, and be really tired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finish 3/4 of the story in a week, then let it marinate for a month before I finish.

You can’t feel your legs, and your face is shoved between Odin’s armpit. You push Odin off you, and kick Selena off your legs. Selena groans, and climbs back up going back to sleep in her little nest of socks, sweatshirts, and pillows. Odin on the other hand wakes up, and apologizes groggily. You put your arm over Odin’s shoulder, and you both shuffle inside the kitchen. 

 

Peri is already awake, cooking something that smells like bacon and potatoes. Hash browns? You hope so. She turns her head back to greet you both. 

 

“Goooood morning you two!” 

 

“Are those for us?” Odin asks, he sounds hopeful. 

 

“Nope.” She turns around and goes back to cooking. 

 

“All right then, I’m just gonna–” He stumbles out of the kitchen. “TO THE BARF ROOM!” 

 

“There's a barf room?”

 

“Bathroom!” 

 

You help yourself to the fridge, pouring a cup of OJ for yourself, and snagging a cheese bagel. They taste better when they’re warm… 

 

Sitting down, you realize your journal is probably somewhere on the couch now. You go back and grab it, along with a random blue pen you find on the counter. You sit back down, and go over your notes. 

 

**SUSPECTS**

JAKOB

GUNTER

KAMUI

LILITH

NILES

 

**CLUES**

EYES ARE STILL OPEN

BURNT BODY (BONES/ORGANS/BURNT SKIN SHOW) 

INDENTS IN NECK

UNBURNED FACE (MOSTLY.  BITS OF HER CHIN ARE BURNED) 

BLOOD BELOW THE STEEL TABLES NEARBY THE BODY

 

**EXTRA**

AUTOPSY REPORT!! 

[PICTURES]

 

You need to fill up on of the pages still, preferably with a copy of Flora’s autopsy report. You make a new section inside your journal:

 

**FLORA’S PAST**

 

It’s empty, for now. 

 

You finish your cup of orange juice and go join Selena in her bed nest. She’s snoring lightly next to you. You turn around and close your eyes. You need to focus on the task on hand more. There just isn’t nearly enough information to deduce shit. You need to find out who Flora’s friends are, maybe question them a bit. If there was ever anything weird happening, that could have been a possible…

 

You turn onto your back, and stare at the ceiling. You can’t fall asleep again. So, you get up and knock on Laslow’s door. No answer. You knock again. 

 

“Hello?”

 

Quiet. You check the time on the hallway clock. It’s 8, 9? 8:45. Yeah somewhere around there. He won’t be awake just yet. Odin is lying in the hallway groaning though. You wonder if you should drag him into his room (AKA his shared room with Laslow). You squat down to pet Odin’s nasty sweaty hair.

 

“Hhh…”

 

“Are you ok?”

 

“Hhhhnnoooo.”

 

“Hang in there buddy.” You pat him, and leave poor Odin to drool all over the carpet floor. He’ll live, probably. Just...how much did he even drink? You only remember him drinking the blue cocktail. Perhaps he was drinking before you arrived. 

 

Heading back to the coach, you find Selena slapping your phone. You snatch it out of her grasp, and answer it. 

 

“Hello?”

 

“Morning Azura! It’s uh, it’s Kamui!” 

 

“Good morning Kamui, what do you need?”

 

“Um, nothing much really! I just…wanted to talk. Is that ok?”

 

You sit down next to Selena and make yourself comfortable. “Shoot. What’s up?”

 

“You wanted more information on Jakob, right?” 

 

“Yes, it’s crucial to know about the suspects after all.”

 

“Right, right well, um, you see.” He pauses, there’s a moment of silence on Kamui’s part. You can hear yelling in the background, and Kamui yelling back. “Sorry about that. I was saying...I already told you about his relationship with everyone right?”

 

“In a way.”

 

“Oh, well,  I’ll text you all of that later. But basically, from what I know from what Gunter knows yada yada–Jakob was a street rat Gunter found, and after a bunch of legal problems and paperwork, he was adopted. Jakob was apparently abandoned by his family. His mother was a housewife, and his father was a CEO of some small company that was failing—“

 

“Wait, how did–?” You book it to the kitchen again, rapidly paraphrasing everything Kamui tells you. You quickly scribble:  **JAKOB’S PAST**

 

“Oh well you see, when Gunter  _ found  _ Jakob, his parents were dead you see. His father was drunkenly driving, and happened to drive right off a bridge with his wife inside the car. Jakob’s father has no other living relatives that are capable of taking care of a child, and his mother’s family refused to take care of him. So he was legally adopted by Gunter.”

 

“Adopted, not fostered?”

 

“Felicia and Flora were fostered, Jakob was adopted.”

 

“Gunter knew  _ all  _ of this information?”

 

“Yeah? A little bit was from me researching too.”

 

You nod your head, and place your free hand to clutch your heart. You smile, and wipe away a faux tear.. “I’m so proud of you.” You swear you hear your voice actually crack. 

 

“Thank you! Anyway, Jakob was like 8, or something? Maybe 7 when he was introduced to the household. I didn’t know about him until 3 months after his arrival though. It’s not necessarily important, but at that point, I know Jakob was really attached to my sister.”

 

You flinch, biting the bottom of your lip. That does not sound good at all, at all, and in a genuine concerning ‘THAT DOESN’T SOUND GOOD AT ALL’ way.  “Do you know what could have caused him to act like that?”

 

“No, not really. Maybe she was nice to him? He was neglected and abandoned as a child. He must of had some sort of trust issues.”

 

“Sounds cliche and cheesy.”

 

“But I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the story.” Kamui makes an ‘eh’ sound, and continues. “Anyway, he kind of got clingy around me too. I can’t pinpoint exactly  _ when _ but I started noticing his behavior when I was 14. I also uh… started distancing myself away from my ‘friends’ afterwards.”

 

“Do you think he acted clingy around you because you are Corrin’s brother?”

 

“Probably? He was kind of creepy about it though.”

 

“How so?”

 

“He did everything for us, to the point Corrin was mostly dependent on him for everything. She’s gotten… better though. Doesn’t depend on Jakob to do her basic human responsibilities.”

 

“He sounds like a masochist.”

 

“Probably is one.”

 

“Kinky.”

 

“Don’t, please don’t...I don’t need to think of him like that.”

 

“Alright alright, but is there actually anything else or?” You chuckle, setting down your pen. “Anything else I should know?”

 

“Actually yeah, Felicia says she has Flora’s autopsy by the way. She says you can come over and take it off her hands.”

 

“I’ll be sure to thank her. This is some interesting information. Now I have the full story. Can you tell me anything about Niles, Lilith or Gunter?”

 

“Lilith? I know a Lilith, but she’s been dead for a year already…” He hesitates to answer you. 

 

“Is that so? What about—“

 

“Gunter can answer his own questions, he’s a man of his word Azura. It’s been a month already, he won’t dodge your questions. I have to go now, Kigari escaped his cage.” 

 

True to his word, you can hear screaming and chaos in the background. Poor them, this is why hamsters are way better, and easier to take care of.

 

You shove your phone back into your pocket and lay your head on the kitchen table. Peri puts a plate of bacon in front of you and leaves. Didn’t she say these weren’t for anyone? Oh my god, she even patted the bacon down until it wasn’t as greasy. What a saint. 

 

You grab the largest slice and crunch on it. Delicious. You have to get to the diner again though. It's probably a good idea to write a note for Laslow real quick before leaving. So, you do. 

 

HI LASLOW,

YOU DID A GOOD JOB LAST NIGHT, THANKS FOR INVITING ME. I TOOK A BAGEL AND DRANK SOME ORANGE JUICE BY THE WAY. 

I HAD TO GET BACK TO VALLA SO I’D MISS TRAFFIC.

TTYL,

AZURA

 

You place it under the plate of bacon and quickly search the sofa for anything you may have dropped. Good, everything’s with you.

 

You take off. Hopefully traffic is lighter than yesterday’s. It, was a lot better actually. When you merge on the 101 there are barely any cars. You think you cry most of the way home on the highway. Thank you Nohr, for being a nightowl city, where people never leave their houses until 6 pm. 

 

You arrive at the diner around 9:30 am. Felicia is at the counter, cleaning it with a small rag, humming a tune. She looks up at you when you enter, hearing the little ringing bell. “Hi Azura! Did Kamui message you?”   
  
“He sure did” You give her a thumbs up. “Thanks for going through the trouble Felicia.”    
  
She ducks down, and pops back up with the autopsy report in hand. She hands you the paper, neatly folded in half. On the back, in scribbly writing is ‘AZURA’S COPY’. You can barely read it, it’s mostly loops. She sure was in a hurry writing that. 

 

“Awesome, you wouldn’t happen to have saved anything for me to eat?”

 

“Of course, don’t tell Jakob though. He was adamant about stopping me from taking anything.”   
  
“Yeah, because throwing away perfectly edible food just because it wasn’t how they wanted it is so normalized. They can’t even save it to give it to other people” You roll your eyes as Felicia giggles. She reaches inside her apron pocket and pulls out a  _ grilled cheese sandwich _ . What a special day, you rarely get to eat anything other than burnt buttery croissants, and hard crispy toast. Bless the Gods, thank you Naga. 

 

She hands you the sandwich, that's nicely wrapped in a napkin. You gladly take it, thanking her before putting it inside your sweatshirt pocket. “For later,” you tell her. 

 

“So where’s Gunter?”

 

“In the back.”     
  
“Alright, thanks for the tip… I’m allowed inside the back right?”   
  
“Technically no, but—”   
  
“That’s enough for me.”

 

You slide over the counter and walk to into the kitchen where Gunter is cutting tomatoes. 

 

“Isn’t it a bit early to start on those?”   
  
Gunter doesn’t seem surprised by your appearance in the kitchen. He continues his steady chopping. 

 

“It’s never too early for anything, Azura.”   
  
“Sure, but it’s always too early to die.”   
  
He stiffens at your crude comment. Maybe that was too early. Yeah, definitely too early. 

 

“Came here to ask some more questions?” 

 

You nod. “If you don’t mind of course.”    
  
“No, of course not. Anything that can help.” 

 

You read out everything you’ve written out to him (Or at least most of it that’s actually important). He nods along, finishing up the remaining tomatoes. Gunter moves around the kitchen, just prepping ingredients. Isn’t this Jakob’s job? Well, then again it’s his diner too. Can’t leave everything to the employees. That’s how he works after all. Stupid you.

 

“You might as well cross out Lilith, and Kamui first of all”   
  
“Why’s that”   
  
“Kamui is too faint hearted to even point a knife at someone, let alone murder his friend. Lilith on the other hand, is no longer with us.” 

 

With two confirmations that Lilith was no longer a possible suspect,  you cross her name out too and write deceased by her name. “I see… I’m sorry—”

 

“About what? She’s been dead for a couple years Azura. I’m actually curious why she’s even on your list of suspects.”

 

“I heard about her connection to Flora. About how they broke off connection with a bad note. I never  _ actually _ considered her to be a real suspect due to having the least information on her.”

 

“Not really a good way of thinking Azura. Just because you don’t have a lot of information, does not mean it’s not a possibility.”

 

“Of course, that’s what I meant. My bad. But do you have any information of Flora herself? Maybe her past or anything she may have provoked?”   
  
Gunter stops cutting the onion. “Her past… is something I’m in no right to share. Flora was a good girl, she was a good student, a good sister.” You can see his jaw clenching. “She didn’t participate in  _ any _ illegal activities if that’s where you’re getting at.” 

 

“Of course, I don’t mean to accuse. So I suppose asking Felicia may be a better option? I understand if that’s the reason. A good father cares for his daughter’s… privacy. Even in such situations.” 

 

“It’s out of respect for her father, I’d rather not say.” 

 

“Fair enough. Then can I ask how Jakob has been adapting?”    
  
“Nothing significant. He’s had his outbursts there and then, but it’s nothing unnatural from him.” 

 

“Thank you for your time then, can I get a milkshake to go?”

 

“$1.75” 

 

“Thats...fair.” 

 

You snap your journal shut, and walk back outside and hand Felicia a two dollars. “I want a chocolate milkshake.” 

 

“What a day, to see Azura paying for something. Did something good happen?” 

 

“Hey, I  _ always _ pay for my drinks.” 

 

“How suave and gentlemanly!” 

 

You get your milkshake eventually after some friendly bantering. 

 

After your great talk with Felicia, deeming yourself a distraction, you leave to let her get back to work. You even have Jakob scold you! Usually you would have just walked away with no hesitation, but hey maybe you’re just in a better mood to see his body language. 

 

It’s defensive, his tone and attitude in general. You feel this… underlying tension and hostility when you listenin to his (very boring) lecture on work ethics. You would just brush it off as stress, or genuine anger for something dumb like usual, but he’s been one of your biggest suspects so far. Just in case, you’ll write it down in your journal when you get to your car. 

 

You turn to leave mid speech— you got everything you need, and now you’re tired of the one-sided conversation. He goes on, and tries to continue, but you walk on and slam the door on him.    
  
You open your car door, and sit down with a sigh. Taking out your journal, the new statements are scribbled down. 

 

**EXTRAS**

AUTOPSY REPORT!!   
JAKOB: TENSE AND HOSTILE. DEFENSIVE. MORE THAN USUAL.    
[PICTURES] 

 

You erase AUTOPSY REPORT and place the  _ actual _ reports between the pages before closing the journal. 

 

You sit back, and close your eyes. Ignoring the ringing from your phone.   
  
If it’s important, they’d leave a voice message. 

  
That blood you saw, you should have taken a sample. You’ve made too many mistakes in this investigation.    
  
What a mess. 


	7. Kamui's Turnabout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Azura thinks back to her mistakes, and Kamui stands in the limelight.

Your car has already started up, yet here you are. Still at the parking lot of Gunter’s Diner. You don’t know how you managed to let sympathy ruin all your chances of completing this investigation quicker. You’re going to go back to school soon, you could have gotten a sample of the blood you saw on the table leg, asked for the autopsy earlier on, actually  _ ask _ about Flora instead of beating around the bush. You start to wonder why Kamui only recently told you this information, you wonder why you just  _ didn’t  _ ask. 

 

It’s essential, you know this, you’re learned this kind of stuff in Forensics Class. You took that class twice for Naga’s sake! Well, not really actually. But the other stuff? That was common sense. It was common sense, and you should have done it all.

 

You stop banging your head, and you think about why, why you didn't do this and that.  You question yourself a bit longer, ignoring the constant buzzing from your phone. 

 

This is where you realize why. It was because you felt the need to be a decent human being, but then got lazy. Maybe you aren’t as dedicated to this as you think you are. The thought terrifies you, but it’s basically like setting down a textbook in front of you, but ignoring it and playing on your phone instead. Is that a good way to compare this? You’re unsure, but you do know that you have to calm down a bit. Breathe. 

 

You sit back, and stare at the ceiling of your car.    
  
What are you doing. 

 

Azura finally checks her phone.    
  
[ 4 MISSED CALLS FROM <KAMUI> ]

[ KAMUI: azura i found something ]

[ KAMUI: jakob has plans on going to crimea with my sister ]

[ KAMUI: ik it sounds like nothing but im intrigued ]

[ KAMUI: just letting you know ]

[ KAMUI: did you get anything? ]

[ KAMUI: i’m going to figure some things out myself ]

[ KAMUI: is that ok ]

[ KAMUI: h]

[ KAMUI: e ]

 

There seems to be other messages, but Azura is too bothered to scroll through the entire thing on her lock screen. Instead of actually reading everything, she simply says this in one message. 

 

From: Azura To: Kamui 

 

I'm sorry, I’m not in the mood to talk right now. I need some space. Go do what you think needs to be done. 

Read at 10:36 am. 

 

_____

 

Kamui skims over the text, that just appeared, before the notification disappears. He focuses the camera on the screen in front of him. Two tickets bought for departure from Nohr to Crimea.    
  
He clicks out of the tab, into a new window where he was watching videos on the moral ethics of euthanasia. It was actually really boring, but he was convinced by a classmate he might enjoy it. This is what you get for taking Introduction To Ethics class. 

 

Jakob walks into the living room with a tray of tea. How, traditional? Kamui feels like it might just be how Jakob was raised, but it feels so extra to have a tray, teapot, and old timey looking london ass tea cups out at 10 in the morning. 

 

“Two cups?”   
  
“You seemed thirsty, it was in case you wanted some.” Jakob replies, setting down the tray on the coffee table. “Could you put your feet down.”

 

‘Yeah sorry’ is the mumbled response Kamui gives his host. “You didn’t have to really… there's orange juice and milk in the fridge for me” 

 

“I know, but you’re the only person who really appreciates my tea.”

 

“Just because Corrin prefers coffee, doesn’t mean she doesn’t enjoy tea as well. There's no reason to be so dramatic” Kamui snorts. 

 

Jakob hums, pouring both of them a cup of what tastes like black tea. It’s bitter to Kamui, but he doesn’t complain. He wishes it was more aromatic; Jakob’s tea always felt too… there’s a word for it in Hoshidan. But he doesn’t know the translation. It’s something between “flavorful” and “strong”. 

 

“What are you using my laptop for.”

 

“Corrin said I could use it, since I forgot mine at Leo’s” 

 

“She didn’t tell me.”   
  
“I’m sorry.” Kamui puts his cup down, and closes the window with his videos and docs. “So you plan on going to Crimea?”

 

“...Yeah” 

 

“Why?”

 

Jakob takes the tray away, and walks back into the kitchen. The sound of the faucet turning on, and running water. How calming, and fit for this conversation. 

 

“I plan on moving to Crimea. Nohr and Valla have nothing for me anymore.”

 

“With two tickets?” 

 

“Corrin plans on coming with me.” 

 

Kamui takes up the entire couch, and lays down. The silence is nice, the sound of water, and clanking plates and pots. Jakob and Kamui don’t talk. It’s a bit eerie to Kamui, sure, but it makes him feel less clammy and anxious talking to Jakob like he’s  _ interrogating _ him. 

 

“She doesn’t love you” He blurts out. Oh you fool, you idiot, you...you. Kamui feels like his heart just did a 180 and committed cardiac arrest, and then proceeded to crawl out from his throat. 

 

Jakob sets the cups down, the obvious small clink and silence afterwards only making Kamui feel worse. Why did he say that?

 

“I know, but I love her enough, to pretend she truly does as well. She..” 

 

Bittersweet laughter. It’s painful to hear. 

 

“I-I’m sorry I didn’t meant that at all Jakob—“ 

 

“No, no, you aren’t wrong though.” He chuckles, going back to washing the cups and tray. Guilt still hangs heavy in Kamui’s stomach. No matter how unnerving Jakob was, he couldn’t help but pity him. It was just, sad to see someone pathetically cling onto someone like that. 

 

“Why do you love her.” He asks in a feeble voice. Kamui sits up, gently setting his cup down. He knows the reasons, somewhat. They’ve had these conversations every once in awhile, back and forth. Kind of like how therapist sessions go. Yet they always still circle back to this topic. Perhaps Kamui could never wrap his head around the revelation. 

 

Jakob comes out of the kitchen wiping his hands on a rag and sits in front of Kamui. He leans forward, and doesn't look at the man in front of him. “I don’t know, I really don't—” he struggles to speak, and laughs dryly. “Because I’m pathetic to love someone who showed a shred of care and any form of  _ love _ towa— ” he turns his head to his left, staring at the door. 

 

“Go to your room” 

 

Oh. 

 

Kamui sits up, and quickly runs to the guest room with the laptop. Jakob never gives the door such a look of disdain unless either Laslow, Silas, or Niles are here. And Kamui  _ knows _ that it can’t be Laslow, because he had a thing last night. It can’t be Niles either, because Kamui also knows that it doesn’t make sense or fit with the man’s schedule. So it must be Silas, the one person Kamui can’t face right now. 

 

He locks the door, and sits down, back at the door. He hears Jakob open the door, and make a small  _ tch _ sound.    
  
“Silas. What can I do for you.”

 

“O-oh uh actually nothing much! I just wanted to know if um, if maybe Kamui is here? We had plans today for a group study and he isn’t answering his ph—” Jakob shuts the door in his face, or at least that's what it sounds like. Kamui presses his ear to the door. Footsteps, the couch creaks, and his cup is probably picked up.

 

Silas knocks again. 

 

Jakob goes and opens the door, again. 

 

“What.”

 

“I wasn’t done.” 

 

“... And I don’t care, have a dreadful afternoon.”

 

“Please, just let me finish for once! Okay?”

 

There's a brief pause of silence, and Jakob hisses. 

 

“I’ll give you three minutes.” That's… actually pretty generous of Jakob. Damn Silas, what’d you do to get that kind of generosity? 

 

“Okay okay” Kamui can just hear the liquid anxiety dripping from each word Silas says. “Something- something really fucked up happened with me and Kamui and I don’t, I don’t know what to do, please, please help me Jakob. I didn’t mean it, I, I really didn’t. It was a mistake, it was one big, giant mistake, and I can’t find him Jakob, it’s been two weeks. I don’t know what to do, I don’t want our friendship to just end like this. God Jakob, I don’t even know how it happened” 

 

“Don’t you have classes with him?” There’s the faint sound of sniffling. Is Silas crying? Right in front of Jakob? And Jakob isn’t chastising him? What  _ did _ Silas do to get Jakob to be so compliant and emotionally supportive— Kamui uses that word broadly when describing Jakob. This is probably the best he gets minus him and Corrin. 

 

“Y-yeah but I can’t find him in the crowd that easily…” Really? Is that really the excuse he uses? Well, actually that’s fair enough. He knows Silas’ coordination isn’t the best, and he gets lost in crowds quite a lot. He can recall all the times he managed to lose Silas at the supermarket, of all places. He’s never seen Subaki cry in public over something like that. It was an amazing moment.  

 

“Explain to me what happened.”   
  
“I-I can’t Jakob, I don’t want to have to  _ say anything _ about what happened, please, please don’t make me—” 

 

“Alright, then don’t.” Kamui hears the door creaking. Was Jakob going to close the door? He never hears the door actually shut, just heavy breathing and sniffling. “He isn’t here, he already left for Hoshido. You know he doesn't stick around for long. And I doubt he wanted to stay any longer than he has to if even  _ you _ managed to fuck up. I don’t know what you expected.” 

 

“Yeah, of course, of course, my bad.” Silas sighs, and Kamui listens to his footsteps slowly disappear down the hall. Just like that? It’s over? 

 

Kamui slumps forward and revels in the floodgates of relief opening to flood his entire body with numbness. He jumps when he hears Jakob’s quiet knocks on the door. 

 

“He’s gone now.” 

 

“That felt too easy... no not easy, simple. Just… Just like that? There's no way, just no way he would give up like that. You know he—” He’s trembling, his hands are shaking, and he can feel his lungs collapsing inwards. Gods that isn't right, he wouldn't just give up unless... there has to be a reason. Kamui scoots back further into the room. 

 

“I know. Calm down Kamui, there's no need for you to start hyperventilating right now. Do you want to go to the diner? Maybe Azura will be there, or you can talk to Felicia if you want.” 

 

Kamui steadies his breath, but he can't stop his body from shaking. For once, he feels anger stirring inside him. How could Jakob be so  _ calm _ , it felt so infuriating. Instead of acting on his sudden burst of annoyance, he hesitantly looks at Jakob, and inquires. “Shouldn't you be at work right now?”

 

Jakob shakes his head, helping Kamui up to his feet. “Not for an another hour. Niles took up my afternoon shift.” 

 

Huh, okay that actually makes sense. 

 

“Yeah, I want to go to the Diner, and eat all the fries…” 

 

Jakob just nods, playing along and patting his back. This doesn't exactly calm Kamui down and instead subtly fuels his agitation. His need to be petty rises, but Kamui has face and doesn't act on the impulse. 

 

“I'll drive you there and make you some fries, alright?” It infuriates Kamui to hear the soft, soothing voice Jakob uses. It makes him feel like a pampered brat. 

 

But he gives in anyways, because what else can he do? Stand here, throw a fit, and be unreasonable about someone fulfilling his request? He wasn't his sister, and he doesn't want to even be a little bit similar. 

 

“Thank you.”

 

Kamui leans on Jakob, and they stand side by side like that for awhile.  

 

_____

 

Felicia jumps when she hears the door open, and the loud clattering of the cowbells at the front. She turns to greet the customers, but then stumbles on her words when she catches sight of them. 

 

“O-oh! Hey Jakob, i-it's not your shift ye— ah sorry I didn't see you there Kamui, hi um welcome to Gunter’s Diner. I guess you're customers today?” 

 

“I'm here to drown my sorrows in fries, and to use Jakob as my Anti-Niles Shield, and my ride home of course,” Kamui bluntly states, sitting himself down at the counter. 

 

Jakob snorts, and heads back into the kitchen. Kamui can only assume he's going to make him some sweet sweet garlic fries. Fuck yeah. 

 

“Do you want uh, do you want any d-drinks?” 

 

“Lemonade, and uh, hey Felicia, while Jakob is in the back and all...” 

 

And right on cue, Niles obnoxious laughter and the faint sound of stomping can be heard in the back. Oh perfect, more distractions. 

 

Kamui clears his throat and starts again. 

 

“While he's dealing with Niles and all. Did you know that he was planning to move to Crimea?” 

 

Felicia's eyes widen in disbelief, and she shakes her head vigorously. She leans in as Kamui continues. 

 

“I was using his laptop to do some work since Leo's cat  _ ruined _ mine, and I accidentally stumbled upon one of his tabs. Two tickets, going from Nohr, resting at Valm, and then straight to Crimea.” 

 

Felicia looks over behind her, then left and right, before bending down a little. Kamui could barely hear her meek mousey whisper. “You don't think he finally got sick of Gunter and feeling guilty about Flora’s death did he?”

 

He's initially taken back by her theory, since his first one was actually that Jakob was going to elope with his sister and all. But that actually might be a part of the reason. Though, Jakob feeling guilty? A rare emotion, if  he ever even sees it in the other man. 

 

However, Flora was a childhood friend. They were  _ raised together _ . It'd actually be more surprising if he  _ didn't _ feel guilty. 

 

“Sick of Gunter? The man is literally a father to him, no matter how endearing he may be, Jakob would never just leave for such a petty reason. Guilty? Perhaps, but what would he have to be guilty about? Survivor’s guilt might fit the bill, but at the same time…” Kamui trails off. It could be, but it doesn't entirely make sense, or at least it doesn't feel right to him. Something was off. 

 

He knows from Effie, who  _ works _ with the police force of all three city branches, that the autopsy reports implied it was murder. But there were also a few signs pointing to suicide. He also knew that Flora majored in fine arts, wanted to go to Tellius one day, liked Kamui's photography, went to therapy because she was depressed, and that she was one of Kamui's closest long time friends. 

 

“Felicia. Can I know Flora's past?” Kamui suddenly asks, looking up at Felicia, who finally stands up straight and starts wiping down the counter. 

 

Felicia flinches, and doesn't respond. Just in time, Jakob comes out and sets down a whole plate of fries. 

 

“I fought for the fryer, now enjoy yourself. Because Niles used up all my time, and I have to clock in now.” And just like that, he leaves. 

 

“Sooooooo...”

 

“I… K—Kamui I can't just, well I can really just, I mean I c—can but that's really sudden, I don't really know what to say or—” Felicia grips the counter edges, babbling and stuttering, with a flabbergasted expression. 

 

“I mean, I've known you since we were what? In elementary? I have something Feli! I know I do, please please please, just a little about before. Anything!” Kamui begs, slipping out from his chair and holding tightly onto Felicia's hands. 

 

Felicia pulls her hands back, and with a somber smile, shakes her head.

 

“I'm sorry Kamui, I can't. Not here at least. It feels too personal.”

 

“Then tonight, at Azura's. We're a team so it's best if we both hear it!” Kamui triumphantly declares, without first checking up on the other. He says this with the false confidence that Azura would allow them into her apartment. 

 

Felicia slowly nods, and places Kamui's lemonade next to his fries. They sit quietly, as Felicia continues to clean the counter top, and Kamui eats his fries. The jukebox music fills in the silent gaps. 

 

From: Kamui To: Azura

 

Let's meet up at your place today okay? I have a possible lead!! ;) 

Delivered. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goodness! Hiatus huh? Isn't that wack! My phone broke, so I had less time to type, and then I lost motivation, then I got the motivation after listening to Falcon talk about her own fic. I really want to see this fic through. It's my first multichapter fic and I'm proud of it so far... even if the mystery is rather convoluted sometimes!


End file.
